FAMILY PLOTS

SPOOKY MANSION WITH A MANSARD ROOF? Check. Disembodied hand scuttling across creaking floorboards? Check. Finger-snapping theme? Check… or should that be snap-snap? Anyway, you get the idea. For the uninitiated – and there can’t be many – The Addams Family are a creepy (altogether ooky), all-American household like any other… despite appearances. They’ve appeared in books, films, television – even briefly becoming the face of M&M’s. It’s 20 years since their last screen outing, but they’re back this Halloween in a new 3D animated movie. Charlize Theron and Oscar Isaac star as the loved-up ghouls Morticia and Gomez.

“We’re on the final touches,” says co-director Conrad Vernon, speaking to SFX during post-production. “We’re mixing right now, doing sound effects and getting everything sounding pretty.”

Vernon began his film career at Dreamworks, storyboarding on . From there, he co-wrote , and was promoted to director for its sequel. Most recently,, and the pair have teamed up again to tackle . As kids during the ’70s, both grew up watching reruns of the ’60s TV show on opposite sides of the Atlantic: Vernon in the US and Tiernan in Ireland. “ was always on during the summer holidays on Saturdays, so that was my first exposure to it,” says Tiernan. “From there, I discovered the original Chas Addams spot cartoons.”